A Shadow on the Glass

I wouldn't have written this review normally, except to voice my disagreement with some of the most recently posted other reviews here. i can't believe that anyone who seriously read this book could find the characters or dialogue wooden or stereotypical, or anything about this series unoriginal. This series works so well precisely because it is different, and the characters, (where they follow conventional roles, by no means often) never have all of the traditional flaws or graces that charactersistically drive the plots of many fantasy series. I would go so far to suggest that the similarity of some of irvine's characters to fantasy stereotypes makes it all the better when you consider how he subverts said traditional roles with the original yet human ways in which his characters react under pressure (which, lets face it, they are almost always under). Please, if you are going to be swayed yay or nay on this series, at least be swayed by the opinions of people who finished the series, or at the very least, the first book. I have read the series numerous times and love it.

Most fantasy nowadays is so formulaic--wizards and warriors, one-dimensional characters, and plots that steal heavily from Tolkien and his derivatives. Only a few authors have been able to break out of the usual shell of the fantasy genre and still produce good books.Ian Irvine is one of them. The View from the Mirror quartet presents an epic fantasy in which there is no absolute black and white, the characters are deep but human (and in many cases flawed), and the world is rich, beautiful, immersive, and most importantly believable.If you're looking for fantasy novels that aren't just hack-n-slash or "kill the evil wizard, save the world," then the View from the Mirror quartet are the books for you!

"A shadow on the glass" is an incredible read. The storyline is thick with details and full of character development. Having read the quartet twice, i found upon re-reading this novel that even the slightest detail mentioned in this book comes back with greater ramifications later on in the story. I found the backdrop of Santhenar and the history of the three worlds a refreshing hight in the often bottom-of-the-barrel trash one usually finds in the fantacy genre. Cleverly, Irvine avoids the formula plot that many fantacies succumb to, by not having any set antagonists. His characters are real and life-like, and the history and culture created for this novel is incredible. I heartily recomend this to anyone who can read.

i loved this book! im currently on holiday and ive only got the first in the series and im dying to read more of this masterful writing! the only problem id have with this book is that it ends with no temporary ending!this only makes me desperate to read the rest of the quartet. the characters are genuniely likeable and though some stages in the book are a bit slow or repetative you just have to perservere to get to the real highlights of the book! since it is a little slow at times i will give this book a 4.5, since its not brilliant but most books aren't perfect, but this book is definitly up in the top range!

This is the first book of a great quartet called "The View From the Mirror". If you don't know already, the rest of the books in this series are called: The Tower On The Rift, Dark Is The Moon and The Way Between the worlds.The series is situated in a place where there are three worlds with their own human species. Then there came a fourth species who are desperate on the edge of extinction, therefore entering the other three worlds, changing the balance between them forever.Then the female and male protagonists are called Karan and Llian. Karan is a "sensitive" who has unpredictable powers that hardly work for her, while Llian is a brilliant Chronicler whose curiousity forever gets him into trouble. Karan is forced to steal this mirror that is an ancient relic, not knowing all the trouble that it would cause. Karan and Llian are thrown together by fate and are hunted across the world for the mirror they hold and the secret it possesses.This is a great starting book to a great series. It's storyline is highly original and unpredictable, where the good guys don't necessarily win all the time. I strongly recommend this book, or this series rather, because the series gets better as you go along. This first book may be a bit slow to start, but it picks up!